March 30, 1998
PC 98 and PC 99 specs offer hope for the future
By Bob O'Donnell
I grouse a lot about the state of PC hardware and overall PC usability because I don't
think it's anywhere near the level where it could or should be. The types of configuration
contortions that IS managers and users have to go through just to get everything working
on desktop PCs running Windows is, frankly, astonishing.
Thankfully, the situation may be changing, thanks to new machines that conform to the
current PC 98 and forthcoming PC 99 guidelines. Co-written by Microsoft and Intel, these
hardware guidelines incorporate recommendations and detailed requirements that hardware
vendors need to support to gain the "Designed for Windows" logo. Specifically,
the PC 98 spec, whose 1.0
version was released in September of last year, is designed to ensure "optimal
performance" for computers running Windows 98 and NT 5.0, according to the documents.
PC 99, whose 0.5 version was
just made available earlier this month, is essentially a revised version of the PC 98
spec.
The cynic in me can't help but notice the staggering amount of power that this document
gives to Microsoft and Intel - the two companies essentially lay out the next few years of
PC-related developments and choose which ones are required and which ones are simply
recommended (albeit with open input from the industry). If there was any question about
the degree of influence that these two companies hold over the entire computer industry,
these documents provide irrefutable evidence. This is particularly true when you consider
that Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs is in charge of the certification process.
However, at the same time, the breadth and thoroughness of these documents attract the
more pragmatic side of my personality. By outlining in great detail what types of hardware
capabilities Microsoft and Intel are expecting (or demanding, depending on your point of
view) in forthcoming PCs, the two companies are working to ensure that all the various
pieces of hardware and software that go into a modern computer can work together as a
unified system. Without this tight level of integration between hardware and software, it
would be difficult to make significant advancements in computer usability. In fact,
without such standards we might anticipate even more chaos and confusion than what already
exists. (Of course, Apple figured out this issue with the Macintosh almost 15 years ago.)
Among the many user-friendly enhancements in both the PC 98 and PC 99 specs are
full-support for various hot-swapping technologies using new, high-speed buses, including
USB, IEEE 1384 (or FireWire), and Device Bay. With these technologies enabled, adding a
piece of hardware to a PC system simply means plugging the device into the appropriate
connector (which should eventually even offer standardized color-coding, according to the
spec) and continuing on, without having to shutdown or reconfigure your machine. And this
works hand-in-hand with the OnNow technology called for in the spec, which, by taking
advantage of the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standard, will allow a
computer to always be available almost immediately (essentially, by supporting various
sleep modes in desktop computers).
These types of improvements, and many others found in these guidelines, are absolutely
essential to moving the PC beyond the relatively primitive state (in terms of usability)
that it currently finds itself in. I, for one, am looking forward to a better, easier PC
future.
©
Copyright 1998, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
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